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his sovereign protective hand
Acts 22:23-29 (JDV)
Acts 22:23 As they were yelling and flinging aside their garments and throwing dust into the air,
Acts 22:24 the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be interrogated with the scourge to discover the reason they were shouting against him like this.
Acts 22:25 As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?”
Acts 22:26 When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? You see, this man is a Roman citizen.”
Acts 22:27 The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he said.
Acts 22:28 The commander reacted, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul said.
Acts 22:29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had tied him up.
his sovereign protective hand
Sometimes a person arrested by Roman soldiers did not survive their so-called interrogation. Often the person being beaten for examination would confess just so the beating would stop. In was a very efficient means of forcing an admission of guilt. But Paul knew the one thing that would prevent this routine abuse of power. He knew that he was born a citizen of Rome. That one fact was not something Paul had any control over, but it was a way that God protected him for his mission. Even now, in chains, surrounded by hostile soldiers, Paul knew God’s protection.
Lord, thank you for your sovereign protective hand.
